JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - Carson-Newman men's basketball's Sawyer Williams (Owenton, Ky.) and women's basketball's Jai Jai McLaughlin (Knoxville, Tenn.) have been named Bojangles' Male and Female Athletes of the Week.
Sawyer Williams was also named AstroTurf South Atlantic Conference Player of the Week for his efforts. Williams' accolade is his first of his career. It marks the first time an Eagle not named Ish Sanders or Antoine Davis has been honored by the conference office with a player of the week accolade since J.J. Wesley garnered one on Nov. 30, 2009. Sanders won four honors in his career, and Davis three.
Williams dropped a season-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the Eagles' 81-60 victory over the Wingate Bulldogs Saturday. Williams also snatched seven rebounds to help C-N outrebounded WU by nine.
The sophomore forward was an integral part of an Eagle defensive effort that limited Wingate to 27.4 percent shooting for the game and 15.6 percent shooting for the first half. The field goal percentage tally for the first half is the best defensive field goal percentage for Carson-Newman all-time, while the 27.4 percent for the game marks the second lowest figure for an opponent and the lowest figure among SAC and Division II competition since the turn of the century.
McLaughlin has turned up here game to another gear over the last couple of weeks. The junior guard has scored in double figures over her last four games.
In an 82-72 win over Trevecca Nazerene on December 19, McLaughlin had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists. The Knoxville native one-upped herself the next day in a 76-45 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan by notching her first double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds to go along with three steals and two assists.
Against Wingate last Saturday, McLaughlin had 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Bojangles is a proud corporate sponsor of Carson-Newman athletics. Eagle fans can get a free large sweet tea from the Jefferson City location the day after Carson-Newman basketball games where the Eagle women score 65 points or the men score 70 points by telling the cashier, "It's Bo Time at Carson-Newman."